I don't know how I have missed her

I am listening to Helene Grimaud for the first time.



It has bothered me that all the pianists I admire--Serkin, Pollini, Argerich, Ashkenazy, Richter, Brendal, Gould, Perahia, Schiff --are all either, well, older than I am or dead. Helen Grimaud changes that.

I don't know how I have missed her

I am listening to Helene Grimaud for the first time.

http://youtu.be/g3Uzi0Vndbo

It has bothered me that all the pianists I admire--Serkin, Pollini, Argerich, Ashkenazy, Richter, Brendal, Gould, Perahia, Schiff --are all either, well, order than I am or dead. Helen Grimaud changes that.

Karajan

I have the same problem with Karajan as a musician that many others do: he thought all rough edges need to be sanded down to something smooth. But damn his Berlin Philharmonic was great.

Pollini as a young man

Playing the Emperor with Abbado in 1967.  Best left hand in the east, west, or anywhere else.

Hardest Symphony to Start?

For the first time in some time, I put the Carlos Kleiber recording of Beethoven's 5th on the turntable thing morning; while listening, I was reminded of a Georg Solti comment about how difficult it is to start the symphony (I tried finding a direct quote, but to no avail).

If one looks at the score, one can see why:

Three problems.  The piece is very fast (Allegro con brio); the piece starts off the beat; and it is easy to turn those straight eighth-notes (or quavers, as they say in England) into triplets.  It would help to beat a silent measure before beginning, but I am sure that is not a cool thing for a professional conductor to do.

Why Einstein was wrong about being wrong

Why Einstein was wrong about being wrong

h/t Mark Thoma. The piece is a lot of fun.